I feel ridiculous in this parka...

Today was our last Tuesday class at Anglo American. We got up and headed there on the tube and actually got there on time! We had two guest speakers today--Lemn Sissay and Hannah Poole. Lemn is a British poet who has published several books and also does radio and TV shows. He was so great! He's such a character and he was so entertaining. Lemn read a few of his poems to us and talked to us about his life. He is a black man who was adopted at a very young age by a very proper white family in England. His mother just wanted to have him fostered for a little while because she was young, unmarried and pregnant--but the social worker that she contacted had Lemn adopted instead and when she begged for him back she was told that there was nothing that could be done. Lemn, whose adopted name was Norman, was rejected by his entire family at the age of 11 because he "didn't love them enough." He never spoke to them again and lived in orphanages until he was 18. It made me so sad to think about being rejected by your entire family, and then spending vital time without anyone to speak of; without anyone who has known you for longer than a year. It made me so thankful for amazing and ridiculous people that I call family--sometimes I think I forget how lucky I am. Anyway, Lemn was finally able to get a copy of his birth certificate and finally knew his real name. He tracked down his mother and family and now has a very successful career! As soon as he opened his mouth I was pretty much in love with him. He was so well-spoken and genuine, and when he read one of his poems called Invisible Kisses I honestly teared up a little. It is just the most perfect poem about love that I think I've ever heard. Here it is:

INVISIBLE KISSES

If there was ever one
Whom when you were sleeping
Would wipe your tears
When in dreams you were weeping;
Who would offer you time
When others demand;
Whose love lay more infinite
Than grains of sand.

If there was ever one
To whom you could cry;
Who would gather each tear
And blow it dry;
Who would offer help
On the mountains of time;
Who would stop to let each sunset
Soothe the jaded mind.

If there was ever one
To whom when you run
Will push back the clouds
So you are bathed in sun;
Who would open arms
If you would fall;
Who would show you everything
If you lost it all.

If there was ever one
Who when you achieve
Was there before the dream
And even then believed;
Who would clear the air
When it's full of loss;
Who would count love
Before the cost.

If there was ever one
Who when you are cold
Will summon warm air
For your hands to hold;
Who would make peace
In pouring pain,
Make laughter fall
In falling rain.

If there was ever one
Who can offer you this and more;
Who in keyless rooms
Can open doors;
Who in open doors
Can see open fields
And in open fields
See harvests yield.

Then see only my face
In the reflection of these tides
Through the clear water
Beyond the river side.
All I can send is love
In all that this is
A poem and a necklace
Of invisible kisses.

It's AMAZING when he reads it out loud, because he doesn't just say the words--he acts them out and smiles while he speaks. Love it.

After Lemn signed our books and left we heard a couple of our classmates' presentations and then our second speaker came in.

Like Lemn, Hanna Poole was also adopted at a young age. She was originally born in Eritrea, Africa as the youngest of six children. Her mother died during childbirth and she was given up. She wrote a book, called My Father's Daughter and in it she tells about how she had grown up thinking that both of her biological parents were dead and that she had no blood family. She got a letter from her biological brother from Eritrea saying that she not only had a father but four other siblings! Ten years later she decided to go there and to meet them. It was interesting hearing her talk about how primitive her biological family is and how the culture is so incredibly different that it's like a whole different world. She is a self proclaimed femenist and a single lady in her 30's--so the village where her family lives being a very patriarchial one proves to be a problem. She's struggled to learn the language and to understand an entire new world so that she may get to know her father and siblings. Now she contacts them regularly and works as a columnist for The Guardian, a big newspaper in London. She read some passages from her book and just talked to us about her life. Pretty interesting day.

When class was over we had some free time before we went on a tour of the National Museum. We went there for a show a couple of weeks ago, but this time we got a tour of the backstage areas and the workshops and got to see sets being put together. I thought it was going to be boring but it was actually pretty cool! Our tour guide was really nice and she had so much information about the Theatre itself and about the plays that were going on in it.

After the tour we went to a typical tourist attraction, the Absolute Ice Bar. It's literally a bar that is made entirely of ice. There was a cover charge that included one drink and when you went in a very nice man put a large parka type thing on you and sent you through this room and into the ice bar. It was so hilarious! We were all in these parka robes with furry hoods and big black gloves just dancing around freezing our asses off! The glasses that they gave us were made entirely of ice too! Completely ridiculous! We made sure to take lots of pictures and in about 30 minutes we were cold enough to leave.

When we left there we decided to go to a real pub--one where we didn't have to wear special clothing to survive in. We went to Piccadilly again to a pub called Porterhouse. It was a nicer pub, which unfortunately meant that the drinks were more expensive. I ordered a glass of wine for the first time! I was so excited about doing it because since our wine tasting the other day I know what the words mean! Then, after trying what everyone else was drinking I ordered a house beer called Porterhouse Red that Patrick had. It was so good! I'm such a beer snob now. We just hung out until 11:30--right before the place closed and the tube stopped running. We passed by this bakery that had thrown out some of these giant baguettes. They were probably almost 4 feet long and we picked up a few and kind of staged a sword fight in the road. It was pretty retarded. There were a bunch of us there and people kind of scattered to find their own way home, so Alex, Patrick and I went to a park near Ability. The gate was locked so I scaled a small brick wall to break in. We just sat by the water for a while and talked about art and London and each other. It was really relaxing. Then Alex and I pretended to be little girls again and went on the swings for a little while before climbing the fence again and heading back to our flats to go to bed.

Fun day! Tomorrow we have most of the day free and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

We'll See,

Whitney